Jo Hamya: ‘Could I just write one massive grey area?’

The novelist and critic on finding inspiration in her Twitter timeline, why she found the middle-aged man in her new book easier to write than his daughter, and how she learned her craft through poetry

Sarah Perry: ‘For much of my life, I loved God. The echo of that never fades’

The Essex Serpent author on astronomy, her new novel Enlightenment and how her strict Baptist upbringing made its mark

George the Poet: ‘Poetry is the artistic wing of politics’

He performed at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding and was offered an MBE before he turned 30 – but the writer is ready to head in a more radical direction

Sunjeev Sahota: ‘I’ve always been in labour movements – but I’m critical of identity politics’

The Booker shortlisted novelist on writing his first significant non-working-class character, the literary critics who inspired him and why he’s not on Facebook

Poet Jackie Kay: ‘I could have been brought up by Tories!’

The writer on being adopted as a baby by Scottish communists, facing racism in suburban Glasgow, and why her late parents are at the heart of her new collection

‘I didn’t want to hurt that girl. I just felt this pressure building … ’ The sociopath who learned to behave – and found happiness

Patric Gagne has spent most of her life fighting terrible urges. She is also a loving sister, daughter, mother and wife. She talks about her remarkable journey

Michael Magee: ‘There’s a disbelief at how I’ve ended up’

The Belfast novelist on moving between memoir and fiction in his prize-winning debut, turning down a spot on Granta’s best young British novelists list and why Lords of the Rings was his ‘gateway drug’

Behavioural scientist Michael Norton: ‘When a tennis player ties their shoes in a particular way, they feel they can play at Wimbledon’

The Harvard professor reveals how everyday rituals can help us cope with pressure, unlock our emotions and define our identities

‘I’d love a scathing review’: novelist Percival Everett on American Fiction and rewriting Huckleberry Finn

His work triumphed at the Oscars, but the Booker-shortlisted author isn’t interested in acclaim. He talks to the Guardian about race, taking on Mark Twain and why there’s nothing worse than preaching to the choir

‘The crime writer crime writers read’: Garry Disher, author of 60 books and finding fame in his 70s

The Australian author is ‘incredibly influential’, but has had to survive decades of ‘cultural cringe’ and genre snobbery to make finally ‘a decent sort of living’

‘Teenagers are exhausting’: Teacher and author Carol Atherton on why her profession deserves more respect

The Head of English at a Lincolnshire secondary school discusses the crisis in education and her mission to make literature live for a new generation

Bri Lee: ‘Writing about getting molested is why I now enjoy artistic freedom. That’s cooked’

In the lead-up to the release of her first novel, the author talks about art, cynicism and the human fascination with pain

Weather watcher: why Matt Gaw is a man for all seasons

In his glorious ode to the inclement, author and teacher Matt Gaw reveals how all weathers transform our relationship with the natural world – the secret is to open your senses and immerse yourself

Helen Garner: ‘People would give me death stares in the street’

The novelist and nonfiction writer on her love of courtroom drama, the trials of cancel culture and why she wouldn’t have been a good psychoanalyst

‘I will defeat Richard Osman!’: Holly Jackson on being Britain’s top selling female crime author

The YA novelist talks about her early love of Tomb Raider, true crime and fangirling the cast of the BBC adaptation of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder